The Forgotten ’90s Brands That Made "Clueless" Iconic

I’m at May’s home in LA’s Silver Lake neighborhood, surrounded by notes and pages from her upcoming book, "The Fashion of Clueless." Set for release in October, it will feature behind-the-scenes photos, production stills, and stories from fittings that have never been shared until now. The timing couldn’t be more perfect, as it has been exactly 30 years since Amy Heckerling’s cult-favorite teen comedy hit theaters, and May’s costume design has only grown in influence. Her work in films such as "Romy & Michele’s High School Reunion," "Never Been Kissed," and "Enchanted" is just as influential, but with "Clueless," May managed to shape a cinematic aesthetic that helped a generation’s sense of self-expression come to life.

"Clueless" is often remembered for its designer moments—and not just the yellow plaid Jean Paul Gaultier or the red Alaïa dress. The film also features Dolce & Gabbana (Dionne’s floral party dress), BCBG Max Azria (her collared burgundy ensemble), Comme des Garçons (Cher’s driving test look), Betsey Johnson (her pink velvet date-night dress and Amber’s pink party tulle), Paul Smith (Cher’s black sheer button-down shirt) and Calvin Klein (her red plaid set). Anna Sui’s designs also appeared throughout, including the fur-trimmed pink-and-yellow plaid jacket and yellow satin shirt Cher wears, as well as her iconic white “underwear” dress, though it was credited onscreen as Calvin Klein. (The sheer “jacket” layered over it was by Vivienne Tam.)

However, the secret sauce behind "Clueless"’s legendary style was May’s masterful blending of high and low, couture and mall. “You have to remember, there was no PR sending boxes and boxes of designer clothes like 'Sex and the City',” she says. “It was a movie about girls, with all young actors. We had to go and shop on foot, from store to store.” While another 1995 release, "Casino," reportedly had a costume budget of $1 million, May was working with a costume budget of around $200,000, which was modest, especially considering Alicia Silverstone had 63 wardrobe changes as Cher alone. And that didn’t even include Dionne (Stacey Dash), Tai (Brittany Murphy), Amber (Elisa Donovan), or the parade of background actors who, if you look closely, are often just as impeccably styled as the leads. (Shoutout to Summer, another tertiary character played by Nicole Bilderback, whose kawaii-meets-skater-girl style earned her a chapter in the book.)

Limited funds meant sourcing from everywhere: Saks, Barney’s, and Fred Segal for the designer stuff to spots on Melrose Ave., which was, at the time, an eclectic shopping district known for its vintage and alternative clothing shops. According to May, the red vinyl mini skirt that Dionne wears in one scene was by a long-forgotten brand, Fever, and purchased at Red Balls on Fire, a famous boutique that specialized in rave- and club-wear (and also appeared in the shoplifting scene in 2003’s "Thirteen"). The baby blue, fur-collared look Amber wears in the opening montage came from either Red Balls or Lip Service, another alt-fashion store, while her white shoes were Patrick Cox’s famous Wannabe loafers. (Fun fact: I bought my own prom dress at Red Balls in 1999—a purple, glittery number with a hoop skirt.) “It was just the coolest store. Mondorama, Red Superstar, Necessary Objects, all those brands were so great,” says May. “I think shopping on Melrose brought more authenticity to the wardrobe—that kind of weird coolness. LA was so special at the time. It was very funky, cool, and underground. If you were living in Texas or some small town, you didn’t have places like that to shop. We were lucky.”

Another favorite LA haunt was American Rag, the vintage retailer on La Brea, where May sourced Dionne’s leopard jacket look and her collection of vintage 1950s purses. The patchwork overalls that Tai wears in the club scene (where she falls down the stairs) were repurposed denim shorts from American Rag. “Thrift stores were really great at the time because they weren't so curated in the sense that they are now," says May. "You just had to find this stuff. It was different, it was hunting,”

Many of the labels featured in Clueless’s most memorable looks were once ‘90s staples, some long forgotten, others still around but far from their former heyday. The pretty green and red bow dresses that Cher and Amber both sport? (“Say, Ambular. Was that you going through my laundry?”) Those were by Tocca—yes, Tocca, back when they made clothes. A lime-green sweater set Dionne wears in a quick hallway scene was “either Miss Sixty or Fiorucci," according to May. And that striped baby tee on Tai during the “Rolling With the Homies” scene? It’s from Tease Tee’s, the OG baby tee brand that’s since rebranded as Pretties. (Though the burnout heart tee Tai wears in her makeover scene, which is often credited to Tease Tee’s, was likely a replica, according to a past interview I had with the brand’s founder, Linda Meltzer.)

Just like Cher found solace at the mall, May found many pieces there, too, especially for Tai. Her clothes were sourced from “Contempo Casuals, Limited Too, Wet Seal…that was where we really shopped a lot for Tai.” The goal, May says, was to show her transformation in a way that felt authentic. For example, the fit wouldn’t be tailored like Cher’s. Instead, her sleeves might be a little too long or a jacket hits in a weird spot and feels awkward to wear, which May says is an important part of the costume design process as it gives the actor something tangible to help measure their emotional state. “Brittany was so amazing,” says May. “She was like, ‘make sure I look ugly,’ before she had the transition to being the mini-me of Cher…and then she finds herself in the end.” Like every good makeover, Tai’s wardrobe didn’t just change—it evolved, right alongside her.

Not all of the costumes were shopped—some of the film’s most memorable looks were dreamed up and built from scratch by May herself, including the dramatic red and black feather-trimmed jacket Cher wears over her Alaïa dress at the holiday party. “I designed the jacket and made the purse; it was a Mona May original,” she says, adding, “I really wanted to make something that was my signature, more special for Christmas, and a great reveal, too, for the party scene.”

Other custom creations include Amber’s striped turtleneck sweater and matching thigh-highs, “Pippi Longstocking” look, the wedding gown and coordinating bridesmaid dresses from Mr. Hall and Miss Geist’s nuptials, and Dionne’s black-and-white plaid suit, made to echo Cher’s yellow plaid but with an extra edge. May added a black vinyl lapel to match the high-shine Kokin hat, pulling the whole outfit into “perfectly, fabulously matched” territory. For Amber’s military-chic ensemble, she sourced real fatigues from a local Army surplus store, then cut them up to create a cropped jacket and mini skirt, finished with leopard print trim for a glam-punk twist.

I always tell May how the first movie costume I ever recreated—right after the film hit theaters—was Cher’s driving test outfit with the sheer ruffled blouse, baby blue sweater vest, and argyle mini skirt. I pieced it together from the mall and hole-in-the-wall shops around my hometown, scavenging for anything that felt close. That kind of resourcefulness resonates with her. “I think that's such a good story,” she says. “Because a lot of young women who saw the movie wanted to dress like them, it’s like—where do you find it? Back then, there was no Amazon. There was no click-and-get-things-fast. You really had to be super inventive.”

May knew that firsthand. “I had to take all different pieces from all different places. I had to create something that didn’t exist yet,” she says. At the time, fashion was defined by grunge, minimalism, and rigid subcultures: goth, punk, rockabilly, preppy. “Nobody dressed like this,” she continues. “I was completely reinventing the wheel. That was really my goal, to find things that nobody has ever seen. How do you break the mold? How do you inspire someone to go, oh my god, I never thought about how I could dress this way, that I could put this and this together in that way? And I think that was really fun.”